Anna Prohaska asked Wolfgang Katschner and the Lautten Compagney at the outset of the coronavirus crisis whether they shouldn’t spontaneously organize a musical get-together in this period. This has now resulted in "Redemption". This is a sequence of music selected solely from Bach cantatas, compiled in keeping with the aforenamed conceptual association. "Redemption" has multiple meanings, for instance: can music give us consolation in times of sickness and crisis; can it open up emotional and contemplative spaces for us; is it redemptive for musicians to be the “instruments” in engendering music and therefore spirituality… ? Besides Anna Prohaska as soloist and three other singers, "Redemption" features a larger group of musicians – around twenty instrumentalists. These musicians serve a dual role: they expertly accompany the arias that Anna Prohaska sings and they also represent the concept of human interaction and a shared collective experience which has been missing during these times. © Alpha Classics

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Belgium's Ricercar Consort has a long record of Bach performances that transcend national styles; it has something of the dramatic Italian approach, the lush sound from Francophone lands, and well-drilled German clarity. In this set of Bach cantatas it uses the currently fashionable one-voice-per-part approach, with the "chorus" consisting simply of the voices massed together. No doubt there is evidence that the procedure was used in Bach's time; whether it was considered desirable in North German communities where the bourgeousie observed the big choirs of noble houses and powerful churches elsewhere in Europe is another matter. The results in this collection of early works, however, are musically persuasive. Included are three early Bach cantatas, including by many reckonings the very first one, the Cantata No. 131, "Aus der Tiefen ruf ich Herr zu dir," BWV 131 (From the depths, Lord, I call out to you). This work is not at all in the usual Bach cantata patterns with chorus and chorale framing a series of arias. Instead there is a sequence of multisectional movements, with the chorale distributed around the work in the manner of a keyboard chorale partita. All three of these cantatas, including the famous Canata No. 4, "Christ lag in Todesbanden," BWV 4 (Christ lay, bound by death), look back to the 17th century -- to the intense and intimate sacred music of Buxtehude specifically -- and are among the most expressive of all of Bach's works. The madrigal-like solo textures work well here, especially when soloists of the highest caliber are present as they are on this recording. Soprano Katharine Fuge (and didn't she choose the right line of work!) and fast-rising countertenor Carlos Mena are both standouts. Sample Mena's luxuriant melancholy on the aria "Leget euch dem Heiland unter" (Submit to the savior) from the Cantata No. 182, "Himmelskönig sei willkommen," BWV 182 (May the king of heaven be welcome). The coolly intense playing of the Ricercar Consort under Philippe Pierlot supports the singers and the overall mood beautifully at every turn, and the sound is superb. A major find in the crowded Bach cantata marketplace, at least for those who buy the one-voice-per-part theory or are willing to accept it for the sake of argument. © TiVo

The labels lately established by performing organizations have mostly been devoted to new releases, but there is a lot to be said for using them to resurrect historical performances and recordings. These tend to be ones that have hung in people's memories for years, well after newer recordings have become available. There couldn't be a better example than this, the first historical release from the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label. It reproduces a 1984 live performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah, Op. 70 (as Elias, in the original German) from the Nationaltheater München, with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Chor des städtischen Musikvereins zu Düsseldorf. (The latter got involved because the Bayerischer Staatsopernchor was unavailable, but the choir acquits itself very well, unsurprisingly inasmuch as Mendelssohn himself was one of its former directors.) Sawallisch was noted for his way with Mendelssohn, to which he brought a noble Germanic tinge that makes a nice contrast with the usual English performances. He never did better than here, and upon hearing that tapes of this performance had been preserved, he is said to have exclaimed, "Thank God they're safe!" The soloists, led by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role and tenor Peter Schreier as Obadiah, are superb. Another attraction is the hardbound booklet, delving deep into Mendelssohn's philosophical place in German society (really philosophical -- Hegel and his dialectic come into it). The live sound from 1984 is impressive indeed, with crowd noise kept to an absolute minimum in a superb display of discipline. A wonderful historical reissue that catches the intense drama in Mendelssohn's oratorio.© James Manheim /TiVo

In this volume recorded on April 23-25, 2000, in the Georgenkirche in Eisenach -- the town of Bach's birth and the church of his baptism -- John Eliot Gardiner has programmed two cantatas for Easter Sunday -- Christ lag in Todesbandend (Christ lies in the Bonds of Death) (BWV 4) and Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret! (The Heavens Laugh! The Earth Rejoices) (BWV 31) -- two cantatas for Easter Monday -- Erfeut euch, ihr Herzen (Rejoice, Heart) (BWV 66) and Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Remain with us, it is towards evening and the day is far spent) (BWV 6) -- and two cantatas for Easter Tuesday -- Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss (The heart that truly knows Jesus) (BWV 134) and Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergotzen (I live, my heart, for your salvation) (BWV 145). And every movement in every work is suffused with spirituality, from the dark night of the soul that is Christ lag in Todesbandend to the bright rejoicing of Der Himmel lacht! to the ethereal serenity of Ich lebe, mein Herze. Although there have certainly been other musical, beautiful, and even spiritual recordings of Bach's cantatas in the past and will surely be other fine recordings of the same ilk in the future, these recordings are bound to be special for a long time. As always in this series, no matter what the venue, the recordings are vivid and immediate. © TiVo

After the completion of the magisterial touring sequence of Bach cantatas from conductor John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, it seems that the prolific music-making will continue with non-cantata works. This strong recording of Bach's Easter Oratorio, BWV 249, was released just in time for the 2014 Easter holiday and should find the same demand as the rest of Gardiner's output. The Easter Oratorio is more an oversized cantata than a full-scale treatment with narrator, chorus, and soloists in the manner of Bach's other large religious works; it has no narrating Evangelist, consists mostly of solos in dialogue with each other, and apparently was actually adapted from an earlier pastoral birthday cantata. The performance here has the positives typical of Gardiner's Bach recordings: warmth, deep familiarity with the texts, and smooth ensemble work born of long acquaintance among the musicians. The choir of 23 is perfectly sized for the work, and the sound, with Gardiner's engineers no longer constrained by the requirements of the churches where the ensemble appeared on tour, is unusually clear. The soloists are drawn from the choir, a slight negative given that the Easter Oratorio stands or falls on its solos; they actually do better in the intimate funeral Cantata No. 106, BWV 106 ("Actus Tragicus"), that opens the program. In general, though, this is a release that Gardiner fans will be glad to have.© TiVo